


The End of Winter

by Alexandria (heartfullofelves)



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: F/F, First Love, POV Second Person, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-10-10 00:51:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10425576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartfullofelves/pseuds/Alexandria
Summary: Being Niska’s first love is a huge responsibility. But also a joy.





	

You’re her first love. It’s both a wonderful compliment and a great responsibility. You’re her first love, and that makes her vulnerable. You’ve got to take care of her heart.

So you accept her for who and what she is (not that you wouldn’t anyway, because who are you to judge?) and ask her to tell you everything she’s willing to share. You’re not stupid – you know she’s still keeping some secrets and maybe she always will – but you don’t push her out of her comfort zone, because you respect her boundaries. She’ll tell you what she wants you to know, and it’s a sort of catharsis for her. And what she tells you is enough.

You understand her now.

You know her better than she knows herself, because you’re the one to realise you’re her first love. Niska wouldn’t admit that, even to herself. You’re not sure if it’s because of her programming that doesn’t experience emotion quite the same way as humans, or because of her reserved personality. Perhaps a little of both. But while she looks a little annoyed that you’ve figured her out, she doesn’t argue. She’s in love with you and it’s never happened to her before.

You hold her hand, lead the way, keep her head above the water. There’s a million different metaphors to describe how you take care of Niska’s heart, but it all comes down to the same thing: guidance. You’re not ashamed that you’ve had many different girlfriends before her (she knows she’s not the first) so it’s your duty to show her how it’s done.

But you don’t mean that in a negative way. No, you’re open to love and everything that comes with it, and you welcome the _opportunity_ , for that’s what it is, to be Niska’s first. Life is a joy (you always wake with a smile) and she adds just a little something to make your days even better. When she smiles at you, when she looks at you with her deep eyes that aren’t the same colour as when you met, when she touches you, your heart sings. You don’t tell her that, though, because she’d roll her eyes at you, but it doesn’t matter because she knows full well how you feel about her.

Sometimes, when she thinks you’re not watching, she touches the skin on her wrist.

“Why do you do that?” you ask one day when you catch her doing it. You wonder if it’s the memory of handcuffs, but the motion is so gentle it can’t be that.

She looks at you. “Do what?”

“Touch your wrist like there’s something around it.”

She glances away, ducks her head. “I used to wear something special on my wrist. It’s gone now.”

“What was it?”

Conversations with Niska are often like this; you have to keep asking questions until she’s given you all the details.

“Your hair tie.” If Niska were human, chances are she’d be blushing.

You grin. “You kept that?”

“It was… a reminder,” she says.

You bump her shoulder. “I’m amazed,” you admit, still smiling.

“So was I.” A small smile graces Niska’s lips and she wraps her arms around you.

You slip your arms around her waist and smile into her blonde hair, holding her tight because you remember how it felt when she left you and how it felt when she came back. You hope you never have to go through that again, but at the same time you’re not one to dwell on the past, so you focus on this moment right now. It’s how you want it to be forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt on colormayfade: “I'm holding on tight like the hair tie on your wrist.”


End file.
